Guard for wallet



18, 1964 H. s. YOUNG 3,144,894

GUARD FOR WALLET Filed March 11, 1963 llllllllll -a 5.1--.. m r:;- f i IN VEN TOR.

H. S Y O U N G ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,144,894 GUARD FOR WALLET Harold S. Young, 315 Kimble Terrace, Chula Vista, Calif. Filed Mar. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 264,357 3 Claims. (Cl. 15047) This invention relates to a device for guarding a pocketbook or wallet while in the owners pocket. It has long been known that pickpockets are adept at reaching into a mans trousers or coat pocket and pulling out a wallet therefrom without exerting enough pressure against the persons body that he realizes'that he is being robbed. It is a main purpose of my invention to provide a device that will more firmly attach the wallet to the pocket so that a pickpocket will have to apply enough force to extract the wallet that the owner is notified and becomes aware that he is being robbed.

It is a further object to provide such a guard composed of two pieces, one attached to the pocket and the other to the wallet and the mere placement of the wallet in the pocket causes the wallet to be drawn down with a substantial force which must be overcome in order to withdraw the wallet from the pocket. One of said pieces is a magnet and the other is a keeper preferably made of iron or steel.

Another object is to provide a keeper made of thin steel attached to the pocket, the magnet being attached to the wallet and exerting a strong pull on the middle of the keeper so that it bends upward like a spring and snaps back against the pocket when the wallet is withdrawn. This snap back action notifies the owner that his wallet is being stolen.

A further object is to provide readily attachable securing means for the magnet and keeper so that they can be readily attached in a factory where the wallet is made or by the owner himself at home.

Further objects will become apparent as a description of my novel guard device proceeds. For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a portion of a garment containing a pocket with a wallet resting therein embodying the invention, portions of the pocket and wallet being shown in section;

FIG. 2 shows the members of FIG. 1 with the wallet partly withdrawn from the pocket;

FIG. 3 shows a modified form of the invention as applied to a wallet in a pocket, portions being show in section and;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the magnet and its keeper of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, indicates a fabric portion of a garment which may be a mans coat or trousers containing a rectangular depending fabric pocket 11 havhaving a. bottom portion 12 that closes the lower end of the pocket. The pocket may, for example, be the inside one of a mans coat or a rear hip pocket of his trousers and has an opening 28 at its top to receive the wallet. A generally rectangular wallet 13 of known type is shown in the pocket in FIG. 1, the wallet having a rear cover or flap 14 and a front cover or flap 15, the covers being connected together at the bottom by a flexible end portion 16. Between its covers the wallet may contain money, papers, photographs or other items (not shown). The wallet is made of thin leather, fabric, one of the modern plastics or other suitable material.

A magnet 17, FIG. 4, has two flexible metal prongs 18 attached thereto, these prongs are pushed through connector 16 and bent over as shown in FIG. 1 to attach the magnet to the wallet. The magnet is a permanent one of high flux density so that it exerts a strong pull on a keeper brought near it. The magnet may be composed of high carbon alloy steel or an alloy of non-ferrous metals such as Alnico. The magnet shown is cylindrical in shape and has an air gap 19 extending across its lower face between its separated poles 20 which are of opposite polarity. Or prongs 18 may be omited and the magnet attached to the wallet by a few stitches of thread (not shown) portions of which extend across in air gap 19 clear of the poles 20. Or other known type of readily detachable connector may be used to secure the magnet to the wallet.

The keeper 21 is composed of spring steel and may be, for example, inch or less thick and /8 to /4 inch wide. Two small holes 22 are drilled through the keeper near its ends and two safety pins 23 pass through these holes and bottom 12 of the pocket to secure the keeper thereto. Or the keeper may be attached to the pocket by a few stitches of thread (not shown) that pass through holes 22 and the bottom of the pocket. Keeper 21 is preferably coated all over with a thin film of plastic or other protective coating that prevents it from rusting while in use.

When the Wallet is lowered into pocket 11, magnet 17 rests on keeper 21 and the lines of magnetic flux circulating through magnet and keeper pull the keeper firmly against poles 20. If a pickpocket grasps the top of wallet 13 and pulls it up, the pull of the magnet on the middle portion of keeper 21 causes the spring to bend and its middle portion to be drawn up as shown in FIG. 2. Further pulling up of the wallet causes the magnet to pull away from the keeper and the middle portion of the keeper to snap back against the bottom of the pocket thus warning the owner that his wallet is being stolen. In case the fabric of which pocket 11 is made is so flexible that its bottom 12 tends to move up with keeper 21, this can be prevented by a few stitches of thread 24 (FIG. 2) passing through bottom 12 near its ends and garment 10.

It will be noted that the magnet and keeper serve to hold the wallet in a mans trousers pocket when he bends or stoops over when it might otherwise drop out and be lost. Also instead of pocket 11 being in a garment, it may be one inside a ladys handbag in which case numeral 1%) denotes a portion of the bag.

In the species shown in FIG. 3, the construction of Wallet l3 and pocket 11 are the same as above described and the parts are designated by the same reference numerals. Permanent magnet 25 is a long rectangular bar of high flux density with a north pole at one end and a south pole at the other. It has a pair of bent over prongs 18 at each end that attach it to flexible connector 16 of the wallet. Keeper 26 is a body of powdered soft iron contained in a thin tube 27 of the shape shown. The ex treme ends of the tube contain no iron but form end closures, a pair of safety pins 23 passing through the ends and bottom 12 of the pocket to secure the keeper in place. Tube 27 may be made of any of the known plastics that provide a thin flexible non-porous strong wall so that moisture or perspiration does not enter the tube and cause the iron particles to rust. The soft iron particles being in intimate contact with each other, provide a magnetic path of high permeability to the lines of flux emanating from magnet 25. When the wallet is in a trousers pocket and the wearer is seated, pocket 11 bends [in accordance with the pressure against it of the adjacent flesh and keeper 26 can also bend correspondingly so that it does not apply a large concentrated pressure to the flesh which might be painful to the wearer.

If a pickpocket grasps the top of the wallet and pulls upward to extract it, magnet 25 exerts a large upward pull on keeper 26 which is communicated to pocket 11 and notifies the owner that his wallet is being taken. If the material of pocket 11 is very thin and flexible, a few stitches (not shown) like stitches 24 of FIG. 2 may be passed through each end of bottom 12 of the pocket and garment 10 to keep the bottom from moving up along with magnet 25 as the wallet is being raised.

The magnet 17 and keeper 21 as shown in FIG. 4 may be packaged together and sold as a unit in retail stores. The buyer can then attach the parts in the manner above described in his home to any wallet and pocket he desires. This unit provides him with an inexpensive means for guarding his wallet against theft and loss.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. Guard means for holding a generally rectangular wallet in a persons pocket, comprising: a small magnet of high flux density and having a width much less than the width of said wallet; fastening means attached to said magnet and passing through the bottom of said wallet near its center to retain the top of said magnet continually in contact with the bottom of the wallet; a narrow spring of high magnetic permeability extending under said wallet and magnet, the middle portion only of said spring contacting the poles of said magnet; and fasteners attaching the ends only of said spring to the bottom of said pocket and keeping said ends in continual contact therewith whereby in response to limited upward movement of said Wallet and magnet, the middle portion of said spring is 25 bent upward and in response to further upward movement of said wallet the poles of said magnet leave said spring and the middle portion of the spring snaps down against the bottom of said pocket.

2. Guard means as claimed in claim 1, in'which the ends of said spring have two holes therethrough and said fasteners consist of two readily detachable members passing through said holes and the bottom of the pocket.

3. Guard means for holding a generally rectangular wallet in a persons garment pocket, comprising: a permanent magnet of high flux density; a plurality of spaced apart fasteners constructed to retain the top face of Said magnet continually in contact with the bottom of said wallet; a thin paramagnetic spring of substantial length disposed within said pocket directly under said magnet; and fasteners passing through the opposite ends of said spring and the bottom of said pocket, said fasteners being constructed to detachably connect said spring to the bottom of said pocket whereby said spring is strongly attracted by said magnet in response to the lowering of the wallet into said pocket, said magnet having two spaced apart depending poles adjacent the center of said spring whereby upward movement of said wallet and magnet causes the middle portion of said spring to bend upward.

Howell June 11, 1957 Nelson Oct. 10, 1961 

1. GUARD MEANS FOR HOLDING A GENERALLY RECTANGULAR WALLET IN A PERSON''S POCKET, COMPRISING: A SMALL MAGNET OF HIGH FLUX DENSITY AND HAVING A WIDTH MUCH LESS THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID WALLET; FASTENING MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID MAGNET AND PASSING THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF SAID WALLET NEAR ITS CENTER TO RETAIN THE TOP OF SAID MAGNET CONTINUALLY IN CONTACT WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE WALLET; A NARROW SPRING OF HIGH MAGNETIC PERMEABILITY EXTENDING UNDER SAID WALLET AND MAGNET, THE MIDDLE PORTION ONLY OF SAID SPRING CONTACTING THE POLES OF SAID MAGNET; AND FASTENERS ATTACHING THE ENDS ONLY OF SAID SPRING TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID POCKET AND KEEPING SAID ENDS IN CONTINUAL CONTACT THEREWITH WHEREBY IN RESPONSE TO LIMITED UPWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID WALLET AND MAGNET, THE MIDDLE PORTION OF SAID SPRING IS BENT UPWARD AND IN RESPONSE TO FURTHER UPWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID WALLET THE POLES OF SAID MAGNET LEAVE SAID SPRING AND THE MIDDLE PORTION OF THE SPRING SNAPS DOWN AGAINST THE BOTTOM OF SAID POCKET. 